Every week, one decision can dramatically affect the outcome of a game. This is true at all levels of football, especially in the NFL. Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn faced two crucial decisions in Sunday's 34-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
We examine what Quinn went right – and what went wrong.
Before we discuss the end of the game, let's look at a decision we think Quinn wants back.
The Commanders led 3-0, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey narrowly missed his second field goal attempt, giving Washington excellent field position. The Commanders completed six plays and got two first downs before failing at the Dallas 32-yard line. Instead of going for it on fourth-and-2, Quinn opted to kick the field.
It was a 51-yard field goal for kicker Austin Seibert. It was his first game back after missing the previous two games with a hip injury. Seibert missed the kick badly, giving the ball back to the Cowboys. At this point the Commanders had a 3-0 lead.
Why wasn't Quinn more aggressive here? He only needed two yards and quarterback Jayden Daniels looked explosive for the first time in weeks. Just a few weeks earlier, there was no way Quinn would have kicked, no matter how much he believed in Seibert. Consider that Washington began the season 11-for-11 on fourth-down conversions. Part of the success was due to Daniels' dual-threat ability.
Quinn made a similar decision the week before against the Eagles, only this time he missed a 44-yard field goal that would have given his team a 15-10 lead in the fourth quarter. What's even more interesting is that Quinn tried against an excellent Philadelphia defense, but chose to kick against a struggling Dallas unit.
“We were just talking about our shooting line and Austin had a good week right from the start,” Quinn said after the game. “So once it's in the right place, that's the limit we need to get to and we didn't feel like we needed to push it or go further. It had nothing to do with anything other than, 'Hey, we're at the point, let's get some points and go from there.'”
Quinn's other decision could have gone either way, but as the home team and favorite, we side with the head coach.
The piece in question was With 21 seconds left, the team score was 27-26. It was an unlikely game.
Quinn quickly signaled for his team to take the extra point. As unlikely as the touchdown was, Seibert missed the point afterward, essentially ending the game. Everyone was dejected.
Here's some context: It was Seibert's second missed PAT of the game, and he also missed the aforementioned field goal. Before missing both extra points, Seibert was perfect all season.
You can't blame Quinn here. The struggling Cowboys had a strong game defensively on Sunday, but after Washington had just shocked them, Quinn had to capitalize on his chances in overtime. The Commanders' offense had come to life and Dallas was reeling.
The decision could have been different if Washington had been an underdog.
You might point out that it would have been the perfect time to go for the two-point conversion and win for the same reasons we mentioned above. That would have been an understandable decision.
However, we believe Quinn made the sensible decision here, and most NFL coaches would have done the same if all factors were taken into account.
“NO. I thought if we scored, we would score,” Quinn said. “And the reason for that was I thought, 'Let's go back to it, but we don't have to talk about it on this play decide' And then I thought, 'Let's go' and then, hey, get a stop, we'll get it, and then at the coin toss, we'll go through the whole process again and reset it.' So I thought That this was the right decision as you obviously not taking into account the other part of things. But that was my thought.”
On Tuesday, . Regardless of what he said, Seibert wasn't completely healthy on Sunday.
You can't blame Quinn for Seibert's health. If the kicker says he is fine and the coaches have cleared him, he is considered ready to play.
However, we think Quinn might want to call back this first one if given the chance.
The commanders did a terrible job. Not only did they allow two kickoff returns for touchdowns – one after the game was decided – but they also had a critical turnover that led to a touchdown, dropped passes, struggled in pass defense and one at the end of the first half Messed up coverage This led directly to three points.
Washington and Quinn hope to put Week 12 behind them on Sunday when the Tennessee Titans come to town.